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DRIVING THE DAY: CHARLIE ROSE will interview SECRETARY CLINTON for an hour this afternoon, at the legendary round table in his black-shrouded studio at Bloomberg HQ in Manhattan. LOOK FOR Charlie to ask her to lay out the Hillary narrative, and to describe her vision for the future. Airs 11 p.m. on PBS for THE FULL HOUR. (Philippe used to love it when Tim Russert would announce that a “Meet the Press” guest was sitting down “FOR THE FULL HOUR.” It was right up there with Ted Koppel declaring on “Nightline” around midnight: “I'd like to warn our affiliates we're going to be going a little bit long.”)

EXCLUSIVE: Dag Vega – the White House’s liaison to the networks, and one of the few original Obama staffers who moved into 1600 Pennsylvania five-and-a-half years ago – will leave for a soon-to-be-announced job in the private sector at the end of next week, on July 25. Vega was hired by Dan Pfeiffer in June 2008 as director of surrogate press in the Chicago campaign office, and has been with Team Obama ever since. Vega’s title -- special assistant to the president, and director of broadcast media – does little to convey the harrowing drama of his life as the manager of all of President Barack Obama’s interviews, and as the Sunday shows’ minute-to-minute contact as they jostle for bookings.

Vega also oversees the booking of administration officials for cable and morning shows. He has finessed celebrity journalists from Barbara Walters to Brian Williams, and helped pioneer presidential appearances on late-night shows. White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri, Vega’s boss, said: “Around the White House, ‘Dag’ is a name [and] a job (‘Who is the Republican “Dag?”’) … Dag conceives of the interview, negotiates the terms, books it, preps the president, staffs the president, haggles over the excerpts, and then takes the incoming from the nets and talent who didn't get the interview.”

Palmieri added: “He also endures it with good humor when [Amy] Brundage and Savannah [Guthrie] call him ‘Daggles.’”

Donna Brazile said Vega kept Democratic “talkers” like herself in the loop before their TV hits – getting talking points, off-the-record guidance and interviews with top officials. “If I had an extra pound of shrimp, I’d make him gumbo – I like him that much,” Brazile said.

Vega also won praise from the network executives he so often delighted and disappointed in the boom-and-bust cycle of high-stakes booking. Robin Sproul, ABC News Washington bureau chief, said: “Dag has been unfailingly gracious and fair-minded in one of the most stressful jobs in Washington -- one of the best people to ever hold that job in any White House.”

Sam Feist, CNN Washington bureau chief, added: “For most of my 20+ years in Washington, Dag Vega has been a part of my professional life … [F]rom the time he was a press assistant for Mike McCurry in the Clinton years to DNC Deputy Communications director to television booker for both the Kerry and Obama campaigns … if CNN needed a high level Democrat booked on our air, somehow or another it involved Dag Vega. Dag has become a Washington institution, in a good way.”

Bob Schieffer -- CBS News chief Washington correspondent, and anchor of “Face the Nation” – has the last word: “He’s just a very nice fella. Not nearly enough of those that come along.”

TIME’s SLIGHTLY CREEPY COVER on invasive species, “SPACE INVADERS: From Russian beetles to giant African snails, the U.S. is under assault – and it’s costing us billions” http://ti.me/1rjqJaq

“THE NASDAQ HACK” – Bloomberg Businessweek cover, by Michael Riley: “In October 2010, a Federal Bureau of Investigation system monitoring U.S. Internet traffic picked up an alert. The signal was coming from Nasdaq … While the hack was successfully disrupted, it revealed how vulnerable financial exchanges—as well as banks, chemical refineries, water plants, and electric utilities—are to digital assault. One official who experienced the event firsthand says he thought the attack would change everything, that it would force the U.S. to get serious about preparing for a new era of conflict by computer. He was wrong. …

“In early January, the NSA presented its conclusions to top national security officials: Elite Russian hackers had breached the stock exchange and inserted a digital bomb. The best case was that the hackers had packed their malware with a destruction module in case they were detected and needed to create havoc in Nasdaq computer banks to throw off their pursuers. The worst case was that creating havoc was their intention. President Obama was briefed on the findings.” http://buswk.co/1nek6Er

NEW POLLS THIS A.M. -- "Christie's Challenge: A Third of Iowa Republicans Dislike Him," by NBC News' Mark Murray: "A third of Republicans in Iowa (33 percent) and New Hampshire (31 percent) view the GOP governor negatively, according to new NBC News/Marist polls of those two states. ... [H]alf of Republicans in Iowa (50 percent) and New Hampshire (52 percent) view him positively. Indeed, Christie’s negative numbers among Republicans in these two states are higher than all the other GOP presidential prospects the NBC/Marist poll tested ...

SIREN – L.A. Times, 2-col. lead of second front (with small A1 tease), “Obama’s border plan foundering: White House reaches out to Congress for help on resolving the crisis involving the youth migrant surge,” by Lisa Mascaro and Kathleen Hennessey: “Amid disintegrating support for President Obama's handling of the border crisis, the White House on Wednesday reached out to friends and foes alike in Congress in an effort to salvage its plan to respond to the surge of Central American children at the Southwestern border. In a private meeting between Obama and lawmakers at the White House, and later during an unusual briefing by administration officials for the full Senate on Capitol Hill, the president's team sought help in resolving the issue after Congress all but tanked a $3.7-billion request for emergency funding.

“The flurry of activity came as lawmakers are launching their own proposals for dealing with the 57,000 unaccompanied minors who have been apprehended at the border since Oct. 1. … [N]ine days [remain] before lawmakers break for August … [B]order officials have warned that by next month they will run out of money to handle the emergency. The White House did not unveil any new ideas Wednesday; an administration official said Obama was in ‘listening mode.’ But the official did not rule out the possibility that the president would take steps on his own if Congress failed to act.” http://lat.ms/1rtlTVs

N.Y. POST PAGE SIX – “O spoils Hamps getaway,” by Emily Smith: “Hamptons habitués hoping to fly out of town Thursday for a long weekend will find themselves grounded by President Obama’s arrival in the city for a super PAC fund-raiser. Helicopter flights … are being halted, as city air space will be closed from around 3 to 11 p.m.” http://pge.sx/1t7WmRS

WEST WING WATCH – “US yet to make big move to seek Gaza peace,” by AFP’s Stephen Collinson: “The United States stuck to arm's length diplomacy Wednesday even as the battle of Gaza saw Palestinian children cut down on the seashore and fresh volleys of Hamas rockets streak toward Israel. Whether it is fatigue with Middle East peace making, a paucity of partners to pressure Hamas into concessions or the fact that its focus is elsewhere, the Obama administration has yet throw itself [publicly] into an effort to end the violence. … Obama has … spoken to Netanyahu. … [I]t seemed likely that [administration conversations] centered on the framework of a possible deal that could be presented to Hamas and Israel.”

PRESIDENT OBAMA closing thought, in the briefing room yesterday evening after he announced additional sanctions on Russia, in support of the Ukraine: “We live in a complex world and at a challenging time. And none of these challenges lend themselves to quick or easy solutions, but all of them require American leadership. And as Commander-in-Chief, I’m confident that if we stay patient and determined, that we will, in fact, meet these challenges.”

OBAMA ALUMNI NEWS – Ben White’s “Morning Money” has FIRST LOOK at a release going out this morning from JPMorganChase: “JPMorgan Chase is hiring Diana Farrell, former Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council for President Obama, as the President and CEO of the new JPMorgan Chase Institute. … Diana served as the Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council and Deputy Assistant to the President on Economic Policy from 2009-

SABATO PARTNERS WITH POLITICO: “POLITICO and the University of Virginia Center for Politics announced Thursday an exclusive media partnership to offer readers interactive election ratings from Larry Sabato’s acclaimed ‘Crystal Ball’ on Senate, House and gubernatorial races. The new feature on POLITICO shows which way the Center believes a race is leaning each week as well as the logic behind changes in ratings. Subscribers to Campaign Pro, a part of the news service POLITICO Pro, will receive an exclusive preview of the ratings each week before they’re published online.”

** A message from JPMorgan Chase & Co.: In May, we committed $100M to support Detroit’s recovery. Two months later, $20M is already being put to work. Our initial investments will provide Detroit residents with technical skills training and improve the data available to strengthen workforce planning. Learn more http://bit.ly/1mO2hvJ **

PIC DU JOUR – “This Photo Of Michelle Obama Will Give You Goosebumps,” by HuffPost’s Jessica Dickerson: “Although segregation in American schools was officially outlawed in 1954 with the groundbreaking Brown vs. Board of Education decision, there's still a great deal of progress that remains to be seen in the nation's public schools. And a recent White House photo [taken by White House photographer Chuck Kennedy] captured that sentiment perfectly. Past and present collide in the image, which was taken in May, showing FLOTUS speaking with a tour guide at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas. The two women stand perfectly aligned with the ‘white’ and ‘colored’ signs that hang above their heads.” http://huff.to/1riQyHs

TWEET OF THE DAY: Sean Spicer ‏@seanspicer “Proving their ground game is superior @gop defeats @thedemocrats 14-7 in annual softball game #MoreToCome”: http://bit.ly/1jSlhJk

PRINT-EDITION LEADS: N.Y. Times (2 cols.), “Israeli Invasion of Gaza Is Likely, Official Says; Brief Cease-Fire Is Set -- Tenacity of Hamas Is Leading to Calls in Israel to Expand Mission Against It” … L.A. Times (1 col.), “Court rejects state’s death penalty: A federal judge declares California’s delay-plagued system to be unconstitutional. An appeal is expected.”

BUZZ – “Graphic Designers on New Airbnb Logo: ‘A Paperclip, Boobs, or a Flame,’” by Slate’s Jessica Winter: “Airbnb unveiled a new logo that's … as Airbnb founder Brian Chesky wrote on the company's blog, ‘a universal symbol of belonging,’ called the Bélo. … Many, many observers saw a different kind of universal symbol in the Bélo.” http://slate.me/1mjsexi

FIRST LOOK – RELEASE OUT LATER TODAY – “SKDKnickerbocker announces two new practice areas: Executive Communications and Millennial Strategy”: “SKDK has hired Stephen Krupin to head up Executive Communications, which will offer CEOs, executive directors, Boards of Directors, political candidates and others an array of enhanced services to elevate executive communications and cultivate thought leadership. Krupin was most recently the chief speechwriter for Secretary of State John Kerry and served as director of speechwriting for President Obama’s re-election campaign. … ‘Whether on TV, giving speeches or speaking to employees, corporate and nonprofit leaders need help,’ said SKDK managing director Hilary Rosen. ‘We have one of the country’s top media trainers and counsels in this field in Anita Dunn and with the addition of Steve … we will be able to bring a new level of expertise …

“SKDK is also forming a Millennial Strategy practice to be led by Audrey Gelman, a vice president in the … New York office and a contributing editor for Marie Claire. Audrey is joined by RaeAnn Pickett, a senior associate in the Washington … office who recently joined … from the Young Invincibles … Millennial Strategy will provide insight, research, and communications strategy and execution to companies trying to reach this socially conscious and highly engaged demographic. SKDK also announced the hiring of Matt Herath as creative director. …

“Supporting … SKDK’s strategic communication work is an enhanced team of digital strategists helmed by veteran Keith Kincaid and new hire Bianca Prade [, who was] vice president of digital strategy for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. … SKDK has also bulked up its strategic communications division … Gerard Petrella joins the D.C. office as a vice president after working for Senator Charles Schumer … Also joining the D.C. office is Emily Black, former deputy press secretary for Senator Sherrod Brown, … Julie Meyer, as an associate; and Ray Wittlinger, former scheduler for Senator Tom Carper … Associate Hannah Klain joins the New York office from TomFord.com.” See the release. http://bit.ly/1wyzjQt

MEDIA WATCH - “Ernesto Londoño Joins The New York Times Editorial Board,” by The New York Observer’s Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke: “In his new role, Mr. Londoño, who covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Arab Spring for the Post, will mainly write about foreign affairs, as well as ‘lots of other stuff.’ ‘I’m excited to soon join @nytopinion as an editorial writer covering foreign affairs; deeply sad to leave the terrific @washingtonpost,’ Mr. Londoño tweeted. ‘Whether from Washington or overseas, Ernesto has time and again demonstrated an uncanny ability to see stories where the competition did not and to execute those stories with intelligence and grace,’ The Washington Post said in a newsroom email announcing Mr. Londoño’s departure. ‘Through it all, he has distinguished himself as an exemplary journalist and an always generous colleague.’” http://bit.ly/1qhczGY

ANGELA MERKEL IS 6-0 – Brussels/AP: “German Chancellor Angela Merkel's 60th birthday got off to a less-than-melodious start. A German television reporter launched into a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday, Liebe Bundeskanzlerin (Dear Chancellor)’ at a news conference in Brussels early Thursday -- but got no backup from his colleagues. Merkel laughed and said: ‘I should have sung along, then it would have been better. But thank you.’”

DESSERT - “New Ron Howard-directed Beatles doc will highlight the touring years,” by LA Times’ Randall Roberts: “Produced with the cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, the project will be produced by White Horse Pictures and Imagine Entertainment and will be directed by Academy Award-winner Ron Howard. … According to the press release issued jointly by Apple Corps and the film’s producers, the documentary ‘will seek to explain what it was about that particular moment in time that allowed this cultural pivot point to occur. It will examine the social and political context of the time, and reveal the unique conditions that caused technology and mass communication to collide. The film will also explore the incomparable electricity between performer and audience that turned the music into a movement – a common experience into something sublime.’” http://lat.ms/1mWNJIP

** A message from JPMorgan Chase & Co.: In May, we committed $100M to support Detroit’s recovery. Millions are already being put to work to provide local nonprofits with the resources and support they need to continue Detroit’s recovery. That includes efforts to combat blight, spur economic development, help Detroiters get the skills local employers need and create youth employment opportunities. A remarkable turnaround is underway in Detroit. We’re proud to be doing our part and to be invested in its future. Learn more http://bit.ly/1lWt1UV **